Brent Hammer, the talented chef who opened the Establishment in March, left the restaurant last week; he’s now heading the kitchen at Pie 3.14 Everyday Eatery, Sean Conner’s inviting pizza-and-craft-cocktails place in Lewisville. Why did he leave? “There’s no real backstory,” he says. “This was a great opportunity. Sean has a lot of irons in the fire. I think he’s going to extend this brand. To be honest, I just feel this is a better life move for me at this point.”

Conner, who was formerly head bartender at Whiskey Cake in Plano, opened Pie 3.14 in Lewisville’s Castle Hills neighborhood in late June; Hammer says he helped him create the menu. It’s a menu that will evolve, he says. “We’re going to keep pushing it forward.”

As for the Establishment, owner Brian Williams says he has hired a new chef, but “I haven’t made a full commitment to him yet, so I can’t say who it is yet. We will know something next week.” It doesn’t sound like it will be Jason Ferraro, the former Hibiscus executive chef who helped Hammer run the Establishment as chef de cuisine. Ferraro’s no longer at the Travis St. restaurant, says, Williams. “He’s now over at FT33.”

I’ve thwacked into them twice in the last few weeks — at the Establishment, the fledgling (quack quack) oyster bar and share-plates place in Knox-Henderson, and at Boulevardier, the Bishop Arts bistro. Meaty, tender and full-flavored, they’re like Buffalo wings with superpowers.

Brent Hammer, executive chef at the Establishment, glazes them with a house-made yakitori, then brightens them with a squeeze of lime. But achieving the desired effect — delicious meat that pulls easily off the bone — is an involved process that starts long before the glaze goes on. Hammer first cures the wings for eight hours in herbs, sugar, salt and citrus, then slow-cooks them in duck fat, just like a classic duck confit (only Hammer cooks them sous vide). They’re then fried and glazed to order.

Hammer first created them at Whiskey Cake, where he ran the kitchen as chef de cuisine, around this time last year. Apparently, they really took off. “We were selling 350 pounds a week,” he says. “Not every table ordered them, but close.” Whiskey Cake still sells a lot of them — 120 to 140 orders a week, says executive chef John Franke. He and the new chef de cuisine, Stan Rodriguez, recently evolved the recipe from Hammer’s yakitori version to “more of a kung pao” flavor. Same cooking method, though. “It’s an elaborate, obnoxious process,” says Franke, “but it comes out very good.”

It’s the same method used by Boulevardier executive chef Nathan Tate, who glazes the wings in a mirin-soy-honey-ginger sauce with with cinnamon and star anise, and garnishes them with pickled carrot and daikon.

Hammer says that when he opened the Establishment with owner Brian Williams, he hoped he’d never see another duck wing. But unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re a duck-loving diner), Williams flipped for them. “He still orders them a lot,” says Hammer, “so they kind of stuck here.”

UPDATE: Brian Williams tells me, regarding the $10 and $12 pricing, “We’ll at least do that through the end of the week.” He adds that they’re “putting on some new dishes and want to get some honest feedback.” He also gave me the website: est-dallas.com, and says the Facebook page should be active again in a few days.

I’m not much of a believer in so-called soft openings for restaurants. The way I see it, once you open the door, feed people and charge them money, you’re open. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of “open.” No doubt restaurateurs have their reasons for wanting to delay letting the press in on the fact that they’re officially open for business — “We’re working out the kinks” is a common refrain. From my perch, it can look like they don’t want pesky critics coming around and making judgments until they’re good and ready to have pesky critics come around and make judgments.

Brian Williams, owner of the Establishment, which quietly opened its doors more than a month ago, is handling the issue in a creative way, and there’s something pretty cool in it for diners stopping in — if they act fast, probably. When I wandered in with friends late last week, a menu of 13 dishes was being offered — with no prices listed — for $10 and $12 each. The reason it’s so cool? What’s coming out of chef Brent Hammer‘s kitchen is way more interesting than what you can taste at most fledgling restaurants — even pretty high-profile ones. It’s far too early for me to weigh in critically, but I will say that this chef, whose resume includes stints at Hibiscus and Whiskey Cake, can cook. He may not have his menu finalized yet, but I’m here to tell you that Brent Hammer is a real talent.

Chef Brent Hammer's agnolotti with braised rabbit

Yes, the Establishment has an oyster bar, as previously reported. There were 10 varieties on offer the night I stopped in, at $3 apiece (that’s not the bargain). You can take a look at the oysters at the bar, where they’re all clearly identified, before you order them. But I would not call the place an oyster bar, or even a seafood restaurant (though there are a couple of seafood dishes). If the draft menu from which I ordered is any indication, it is a sophisticated small plates restaurant. The dining room is sprawling and canteen-like, with a sleek contemporary feel. You can see the guanciale curing in a case over the oyster bar. Williams said by email that the menu I saw represents about 60% of what the final menu will be, with more dishes to be added this week.

At these prices, the dishes are real bargains. There’s bone-marrow custard with house-cured guanciale (pork jowls), wild mushroom conserve, pickled mustard seed and an herb salad, or burrata with country ham, charred asparagus, tiny heirloom fingerling potatoes and green goddess dressing for $10 each. Twelve bucks buys you sheep’s milk cheese-filled agnolotti with braised rabbit, morels and stinging nettles, or house-made pappardelle with suckling pig sugo, or a halibut fillet on a spring pea broth with chanterelles and asparagus, or sirloin of Colorado lamb with charred ramps, salsa verde, Japanese turnips and crushed pistachios. And more.

I have contacted Williams again to see how long he plans to sell the dishes at these prices, but he has not gotten back to me. There is no website. The Facebook page created in 2012 hasn’t been updated in more than a year. The phone number on the Facebook page (and listed here below) answers “Sorry, memory full. Please try again later.” But if you don’t mind risking that the dishes will no longer be available at those prices, I’d say it’s definitely worth a trip to the Establishment to check them out. It’s a few doors south of Sur La Table on Travis Street — adjacent to Smyth.

UPDATE: 5:05. I just received a statement from Martensen: “I’d like to congratulate my team for the amazing success in creating and executing the cocktail programs at both The Cedars Social and Bar Smyth that garnered national recognition. In fact, in many ways, their efforts have established Dallas as a city with one of the most innovative cocktail programs in the country. We, as a team, have decided to pursue new opportunities that have presented themselves over the past several months and begin the next chapter of our professional careers. We are excited to announce these new projects in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned.”

ORIGINAL POST: Brian Williams, Michael Martensen‘s partner at Smyth, the Cedars Socialand the Establishment, just emailed to say that Martensen has left the business. Beginning tonight, Smyth will be closed to “retool and to bring in additional bartenders and management.” Williams’ plan is to reopen next the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 29. The Establishment is the restaurant the team has long planned to open next to Smyth on Travis Street. Martensen, who described the plan for the Establishment as “Cedars Social with an oyster bar,” had originally announced he wanted to open it back in January. Smyth is a reservations-only cocktail bar that turns out some of the most sophisticated drinks in the country.

Williams says Martensen is moving on to engage in his own endeavors. “We are grateful for everything that Michael has done to make us the success that we are,” writes Williams, “and wish him the very best. We are positive that his new ventures will continue to bring him all of the continued success that he deserves and we support his decision 100%. The Cedars Social, Smyth and The Establishment will continue our commitment to serving exceptional drinks and providing a superior experience for our guests.”

UPDATE: The Mesero Miguel opening has been pushed back to Thursday, Sept. 19. Here’s some news on a quartet of high-profile openings:

The opening for Souk, Yaser Khalaf‘s Middle-Eastern place in Trinity Groves, has been postponed a bit: The co-owner of Baboush and Medina Oven and Bar is now looking at an October 7 opening. Omar Flores and Jonn Baudoin‘s Casa Rubia, also in Trinity Groves, have pushed back their opening a week. Barring any issues with the finish-out, they plan to open October 14, says Baudoin.

On Henderson Avenue, Mico Rodriguez‘s Mesero Miguel is on track to open this coming Monday, September 16 Thursday, September 19. The restaurant, in the former Alma space, will feature creative ceviches and snacks including Maine lobster hand rolls with garlic-chile butter and charred lemon. Other dishes include a white shrimp taco salad, duck confit crispy tacos, range chicken “la brasa” and short ribs with guajillo-cotija grits. Jon Stevens (formerly of Nosh Euro Bistro) collaborated on the menu with Rodriguez. The question of who will be permanent chef is up in the air, though. “Jon is handling the kitchen right now,” writes publicist Lauren Millet. “The permanent chef is yet to be announced.” She promises to keep us posted.

Finally, an update on the Establishment, the restaurant that will be attached to Michael Martensen’s Smyth bar. “Hopefully construction will be done next week,” says Martensen. “They are putting in the equipment for the oyster bar and flooring then we are finally done.” The following week should be spend “cooking in the kitchen, and then we’ll go from there. I really want to put a date on it, but that seems to plague us.” He originally announced he’d open last January. We’re trying to be patient, Mr. Martensen. But oyster’s are sounding awfully good, especially in September, the first post-summer month without an R.

Smyth opened in March; owner Michael Martensen hopes to open its restaurant, the Establishment, in mid-August

Have you been wondering about the Establishment, the oyster bar, diner and bar that owner Michael Martensen said early on he hoped to open back in January? Well the bar, which he wound up calling Smyth, opened in March. The reservations-only hideaway mixes some of the best cocktails in Dallas.

Well, it seems Martensen is finally getting close to opening, and the concept for the restaurant has changed somewhat. “It’s going to be Cedars Social with an oyster bar,” he says. The kitchen’s completely done, they’re finishing the electrical and the lighting, and “we’re shooting for the second week of August.” The Cedars Social is the quirky, laid-back restaurant and cocktail den Martensen and Brian Williams own in the Cedars district.

Martensen has engaged a chef, but isn’t ready for the big reveal yet. We will keep you posted.

Back in early January, I reported on Michael Martensen‘s plans to debut the Establishment, his upcoming oyster bar, cocktail bar and diner on Travis St. When I interviewed him then, he said he should have the cocktail bar part of it — the custom-cocktail, reservations-only bar serving drinks with 3,000 year old glacial ice — open by Jan. 17. Well on Sunday we’ll be a month past that planned debut, and it’s still dark.

But I have an update from Martensen. “Moving forward, we are just tweaking things right now,” he writes in an email. “Liquor is on the back bar — just waiting on the plumber and contractor to get a couple things done for us. We will probably go live in the bar next week, depending on what the contractor gets done this weekend.”

Martensen adds that the place is all set up with OpenTable, and once everything’s ready, he’ll push the button and start accepting reservations.

Here comes an exciting new addition to Dallas’ bar scene: Michael Martensen and Brian Williams, owners of The Cedars Social, are about to debut a reservations-required bar featuring custom cocktails — to be attached to their soon-to-debut oyster bar, The Establishment. It’ll be part of what Martensen describes as The Establishment’s sprawling 4,000-foot space, which he and Williams are dividing into three areas. “I like small, intimate places,” explains Martensen. Besides the yet-to-be-named, 50-seat reservations-only bar, which is scheduled to open Thursday, January 17, and the oyster bar (expected to open in February; the chef will be announced soon), there will also be a coffee shop.

So what’s the deal with the reservations-only bar? “It’s strictly bartender service,” explains Martensen. “You will only talk to a bartender; there will not be a cocktail waitress to take your order. There’s no actual cocktail menu. The bartender’s job is to give the customer what they want.” For instance, a customer might say, “I want something savory; I want something sour-sweet; I love bubbles,” and the bartender will create something in accordance with those preferences. There will be a list of the spirits on offer, along with vintage glassware, linen napkins, gold bar spoons and ice flown in from Alaska. The idea is “here’s a great distillate served on a 3,000 year old piece of ice.” Martensen plans to be bartending, along with Omar Yeefoon, an alum of the Cedars Social who opened The People’s Last Stand. “We’re going to run the bar like a tasting kitchen,” says Martensen. “If we want to do tiki drinks one week, we’ll do tiki drinks.